Vito Sport X Brabus - Help needed please!!!

[Annalisa]

Hi guys.

I'm new to this forum so a big 'Hello' to you all....

I'm the proud owner of a lovely carbon black Vito ('98) Sport X Brabus.
I'll get it out of the way early on... I'm a girl. Yes i know it's a bit of an unusual choice of vehicle but i absolutely love it.....

I'm hoping that some of you might be able to help a girl out with a problem i have....
I bought some new 19" wheels / tyres a while ago after reading that these would fit ok. My next step was to lower her a bit as she did ride really high on the standard suspension setup. I decided to opt for the cheaper route and just go with springs at first, so got a set of Eibach fitted. They lowered the van nicely and it looked so much better!!! But annoyingly the wheel arches catch very often and the poor plastic inner arch trim has taken a hell of a beating....
So to get around this i am now thinking about going for a set of adjustable coilovers so that i can adjust the height and ride. However the only coiler kit i can find for my Vito is the KW V.3. Not that i have anything against KW as have had V.2's on my old BMW and loved them. But i have read that in the 4 piece kit, 2 are height adjustable and 2 are fixed height - which defeats the purpose really....

So my questions are these...

- Are there any other options for me other than the KW V.3?

- If i have to go for the KW V3 then what height will i be able to run her at as it sounds like they are not fully adjustable and i want all 4 corners to ride lower than standard?

- I'm also pretty sure some bushes are worn and need replacing... Should i just opt for em bushes or is there a poly bush option for my van that would be better?

Thanks guys! Really appreciate any help and response....... x

 

[parksie14]

Hi Annalisa, sounds to me you may have a less than ideal wheel & tyre set up??my van has 20" alloys with a 56 offset with 40 profile tyres & no rubbing.

If your new rims are wider than 8" & something between 40& 50 offset then that will be a recipe for rubbing

 

[zenman63]

As above, you need 245/45 19 tyres that is a stock Viano tyre so will not rub.
Parksie14 is yours lowered?
I am planning on going to 255/40/20 but mine is low, 255/35/20 does not rub but has 97 index.

 

[parksie14]

Not lowered, I decided to see how it looked with the 20s on , it looks OK for me so I'll be sticking with the stock spring.

 

[Annalisa]

Hi guys. Thanks for the replies so far!
I've checked and my wheels are 19" x 8". My tyre size is 245/45 19.
I don't think they are actually rubbing on the rear. But i do get a bad knocking noise which i am pretty certain is the bushes.
The front is where i am having big issues. It is constantly catching. The tyres have been badly marked from it around the rim and the plastic inner arch guard is looking very worse for wears now....
I was wondering if the front Eibach springs could be heated and stretched out slightly??? Or is that a really bad idea???
To pay out over 1.5k on a set of KW V.3 adjustable coilovers to correct the problem seems pretty extreme....
I guess the other option would be to go back to standard em springs, but the wheel gap was so huge i just thought it looked really rubbish....

 

[Annalisa]

Oh.... Just to add i did check that the offset on the wheels was correct when i bought them. But can't remember what it was now.... As they don't catch on the rears i am guessing that it is correct? But then why would they catch on the front??? Could there be something else that might be causing it to catch at the front? Perhaps the bushes on the front being badly worn and making it too bouncy over bumps????

 

[Giantvanman]

You have two separate issues; knocking on the suspension and tyres rubbing on the inner wheel arch. You could use a deeper spring mount/pad? Too bouncy would be damper units (or shock absorbers as people call them) or the wrong spring rate.

 

[Annalisa]

Yes i think the issue at the rear is almost certainly the bushes, so that fine.
The rubbing on the fronts is the real problem. I'm not sure that it is too 'bouncy' to be honest, that was just a guess really. The spring rating should be fine as they are eibach load rated springs made for the Vito. So perhaps it's the dampers that need changing..... Hmmmm. If my standard dampers were old and worn, then maybe when i switched the standard springs to the lower, firmer Eibach ones it might have finished them off....

You have two separate issues; knocking on the suspension and tyres rubbing on the inner wheel arch. You could use a deeper spring mount/pad? Too bouncy would be damper units (or shock absorbers as people call them) or the wrong spring rate.

 

[zenman63]

See what the et on the rim is first.